Lodge members to hit the road

Loanhead Lodge members Bill Harra and Steve Ritchie who will be travelling 1700 miles via Land's End and John O' Groats in a 45 year old Triumph TR6

Published:15:00Friday 02 March 2018

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Two members of Loanhead Masonic Lodge plan to travel to the top and bottom of the country in around 30 hours in a 45-year-old classic car.

Steve Ritchie and Bill Harra will drive to Land’s End on April 10, hoping to be back in Loanhead via John O’Groats for lunch the next day – all in aid of local charities Sure Start, The Rock, Special Olympics Lothians and Roseberry Centre, as part of the Provincial Lodge of Midlothian Linking Our Communities charity drive. The pair will take turns driving the Triumph TR6 on their 1700 mile trip, and hope to raise around £2000.

He said: “We are doing a lot of fundraising things and I was just looking for something a bit different. I have got an old classic car I like to drive. So this will be a good test for it, and a good test for us as drivers. It will be a challenge.

“One of us will be driving while the other sleeps. It’s not like a normal car, it’s noisy. So sleeping might be tricky.

“We are hoping to raise as much money as possible. We have been talking to businesses about sponsorship, including putting their names on the car. We are trying everything we can to raise money.

Loanhead Lodge members Bill Harra and Steve Ritchie who will be travelling 1700 miles via Land's End and John O' Groats in a 45 year old Triumph TR6 in 30 hours to support 4 charities, photographed outside Loanhad Lodge 26/2/18

“It’s raising a lot of excitement and people are trying to helps us where they can.

“I have owned the car for five years and I have done a couple of trips around Europe totalling a couple of thousand miles. So I expect the car to be fine, but those trips were over five days not under two!

“However, while the car is old, it’s reliable. It should be alright.”

It is hoped that the Masonic Bike Club will meet the pair at the Queensferry Crossing and escort them back into Edinburgh.